Tomb of Philippe Pot

Tomb of Philippe Pot
Material	Limestone, paint, lead, gold
Size	Height: 260 cm (100 in) Width: 181 cm (71 in) Depth: 167 cm (66 in) Each pleurant c. 135 cm (53 in) to 145 cm (57 in) high[1][2]
Created	c. 1480
Period/culture	Northern Renaissance
Present location	Musée du Louvre, Paris
Identification	RF 795[1]

The tomb of Philippe Pot is a life-sized funerary monument, now on display in the Louvre, Paris. It was commissioned by the military leader and diplomat Philippe Pot for his burial at the chapel of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Cîteaux Abbey, Dijon, France. His effigy shows him recumbent on a slab, his hands raised in prayer, and wearing armour and a heraldic tunic. The eight mourners (pleurants) are dressed in black hoods, and act as pallbearers carrying him towards his grave. Pot commissioned the tomb when he was around 52 years old, some 13 years before his death in 1493. The detailed inscriptions written on the sides of the slab emphasise his achievements and social standing.

Pot was a godson of Philip the Good and became a knight of the Golden Fleece. He served under two of the last Valois Dukes of Burgundy, Philip the Good and Charles the Bold. After the latter's defeat by René II, Duke of Lorraine, at the battle of Nancy in 1477, Pot switched allegiance to the French king, Louis XI, who eventually appointed him grand seneschal of Burgundy. He later served under Louis' son Charles VIII.

The tomb is made of limestone, paint, gold and lead. It is recorded as having been completed in 1480 but there is no mention of its designers or craftsmen. Art historians generally cite Antoine Le Moiturier as the most likely designer of the pleurants, based on circumstantial evidence including similarities to other of his known works.^[3] The monument was stolen during the French Revolution, and after changing hands several times was placed in a private garden in Dijon in the 19th century. Since 1899 it has been in the collection of the Musée du Louvre, where it is on permanent display. The tomb underwent a major restoration between 2016 and 2018.